Fredy Mmari, 70 times on the summit of Kilimanjaro.

Fredy Mmari, part of the Rift Valley has been a native of a Tanzanian village called Moshi, which is located at the base of Kilimanjaro, for the past 8 years. It is perhaps this fact that led him to become a porter on the highest mountain on the African continent (5891.8 m) after completing his basic studies. During his four-year stint as a porter, he climbed Kilimanjaro more than 70 times by different routes.

Thanks to his work, which he explains that "in the old days conditions were not like they are now", he was able to pay for his studies in tourism. He did it in everyday clothes, without special equipment for an expedition of that calibre. During those years there was a boom in Spanish tourism and he decided to learn the language.

After finishing his studies he started working as a safari guide and later decided to set up his own tourism company in his native country. He started to travel to Spain until, 8 years ago, he met his wife here and settled in Vallirana.

At a roadshow the team of Rift Valleya travel agency specialising in Africa and distinguished for its responsible and sustainable philosophy, met Freddy and decided that he was an essential part of their team. Since then, he has been in charge of managing the trips to his country, offering a local vision of how people have lived and live in a country like Tanzania.

We talked to Fredy

A conversation with Fredy is a journey through the changes in the Kilimanjaro environment and the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro. At the time when he was a porter, there were not so many camps or structures, nor so much overcrowding. The facilities and information available to tourists have changed, there are now more infrastructures and lodges, and that is why overcrowding has become evident in the area. The work as a porter "was very hard, and was not recognised as such".

Fredy wanted to answer some questions in which he tells us the vision of Kilimanjaro from the point of view of a local porter, a different vision to the one we are used to.

Hi Freddy, how are you? I understand you have had to travel to Tanzania recently.

Well, thank you. Yes, I was there recently on personal business.

You were born in Moshi (Tanzania), a small town at the foot of Kilimanjaro where the majority of the inhabitants of the Chagga and Maasai tribes live together.

Yes, that's right. It is the capital of the Kilimanjaro region, which has the same name because it is at the foot of the mountain. Most of the people there are Chagga, and some are also Maasai, although less so, because of the nomadic character of this tribe. The people there mainly live from agriculture, there is a lot of coffee, although many people also make a living from cattle and business.

What does Kilimanjaro mean to you, the people of Moshi? I imagine it must be very present in your culture.

Literally, Kilimanjaro is the union of two words: Kilima jaro, meaning a difficult journey. Although it may seem the opposite, the local people don't have it very much in mind, it is something that is there and is not valued as much. The people who live there don't put as much enthusiasm into it as you might think or as much as the tourists do.

And tell me, when you were a child and you saw the mountain, did you dream of reaching the snows of Kilimanjaro, or are these things that only tourists come to do?

For us, as I say, it is nothing extraordinary, so we do not dream of reaching its summit. There is nothing special about it that attracts our attention, it is something more for tourists. When you get older, that's when you realise its importance, but for economic reasons, for what it can bring you on an economic level rather than for fulfilling a dream or not.

The first time you climbed Kilimanjaro, what was it like?

It was a curious journey. Since you were a child you hear that it is difficult, as the name says. The first time more with caution, you don't know what you're going to find. I thought of it as just another hike and, little by little, I began to see what I could do. The first time I finished it well and, finally, I saw that I had been able to do it well and I kept on doing it. I was about 17 years old the first time I went up.

Then you kept going up, up to 70 times in 4 years. Did you like what you were doing or was it mainly a way to make a living?

The idea of continuing to climb Kilimanjaro was linked to an economic issue, although I can't deny that I also started to enjoy it. It is hard work, but it is also true that it gives you the opportunity to meet other people who make you realise that it really is a good thing to be able to climb this mountain.

Among the many people you have helped and shared the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro, what do you remember? What do you remember?

That stage of my life taught me a lot, I learned a lot about tourism and people. A lot of things happen on a day-to-day basis when climbing Kilimanjaro. The porters, for example, when we are very tired, we throw away our sandwiches in the hope that our backpacks will be lighter, but it doesn't work. At that moment you don't realise it, you do it without thinking, and then the rest of the people eat and you don't. Also, for example, because of the cold, you may have to unzip someone's trousers so that they can urinate.

Kilimanjaro is said to be an easy mountain, yet statistics show that only 40% of those who attempt to summit it succeed. Why is this? I have heard that many people do not acclimatise properly because each day spent in the park costs €60-70 plus the salaries of porters, guide, cook etc.
I imagine you have had to turn your back on more than one occasion. How do you see it?

They say it's easy because they don't need any technical part, you don't need technical equipment to do it like on other mountains that high; you don't need crampons or climbing ropes. But, in reality, it is not easy at all. It's a hard hike and it's very cold. Actually, it's not easy because it's hard, it's very cold, it's a very high mountain, we're talking about almost 6000 metres, not everybody can do it.

Reaching the roof of Africa is like a magnet that attracts people from all over the world, from all walks of life, many without any previous mountain experience. Is the porter's job confused with that of a servant? Are some people overdoing it?

In reality, the job of a porter up to now has been to do everything: to carry everything necessary or to cook, for example. It is not usually the client who asks for everything, it is often the companies themselves who demand it. What does happen is that people want to pay less because the porters do more work, and this results in bad conditions for the porters, of course. Until now, the porter's job was to do everything. A cheap journey falls on the shoulders of the porter.

On the other hand, is it usual for porters to accompany clients to the top? I have heard of porters who have climbed to the last camp dozens of times and never reached the summit.

Yes, that's right, the 90% porters only go up to the last camp, and then they don't continue, basically because their job of carrying the visitors' belongings is no longer necessary. It may be the case that some visitors need help, in which case the guide chooses a porter and it is the porter who goes up to the top.

Do you know women porters?

I do know a couple of them, but there aren't many either.

The commercialisation of Kilimanjaro is a very important source of income for the country and for the whole economy of the area. Do you think it has a positive impact on the lives of people in cities like Moshi?

It is an economic source for the country, but not so much for the people living in the area. The main beneficiaries are hotels, porters, guides etc. with jobs.. When there is no tourism, you notice that the economy goes down. However, if they have the opportunity to do or work in something other than tourism, people tend to do it: they don't go up and down Kilimanjaro for fun, but because it is an easy opportunity that exists in the area, because they need that job. Those who, for example, have the resources to study, do so rather than go into tourism.

And as far as conditions are concerned, are the porters' wages regulated in a dignified way, what happens if a porter has an accident or dies, and is there someone to take care of these people?

The porters were still underpaid at the time when I was climbing, and before that it was worse. Now they are still paid very little for what they do: they are the machinery that moves the Kilimanjaro treks, without them the tourists would not be able to reach the summit. The conditions in which they work are also very hard, without proper clothing, with what they have. If an accident happens during the trek, the only ones who take care of the injured porter are the companions.

In the introduction to this interview we said that after finishing your studies, you worked as a safari guide and then set up your own company. Tell us a bit more about what that was like.

When I went up as a porter, I used to pay for my studies to train as a guide with what I earned. Before becoming a guide, however, I also worked as a safari cook on camping trips. Thanks to that I was able to learn different trails and routes, and how to work with clients. After that I started working as a safari guide for others, which allowed me to meet a lot of people. These travellers then recommended me to other travellers and came to do treks with me, so I decided to set up my own business.

You now live in Vallirana, a town near Barcelona. How did you end up here?

I met my wife in Tanzania and we lived there for a while. Finally we created a family and decided to stay in Spain. About 7 years ago I met the Rift Valley team, Toni Espadas, Rafa Martín and Pep López, during a road show we did in Spain, and we were talking and we saw that everything fit together to form a team. We decided to get together and I joined the Rift Valley team and here we are, working on the project we share.

I imagine it must be a nice way to keep in touch with your roots and at the same time, a satisfaction to be able to make your country known here.

Yes, indeed it is. From Rift Valley We can reach a lot of people, and I continue to work on my own thing, which is what I like. The whole team is happy to have come together and to have decided to come together to carry out this project.

Any recommendations for travel in the coming months?

I always recommend travelling to Africa, not only to Tanzania, to different countries. Although I especially recommend travelling to Tanzania. It's a country that has everything: it has trekking on Kilimanjaro, it has a beach, it's beautiful, it's safe and it allows you to learn about everything. When you travel, however, if you go to Kilimanjaro, people should think about what it is like to work as a porter, and I recommend that you look for quality rather than cheapness. When you travel, pay for a good service to guarantee people's rights, because when you pay little to reach the top of this mountain, it is the porter who gets the stick.

Well, thank you very much, we'll keep the latter. I think I'm going to start packing my backpack.